Maybe this is only me, but I think a lot of bands don't really care for that anymore. In my opinion, the band-name is very important in Heavy Metal and it should be chosen carefully.

Of course, nowadays most simple and memorable names are already taken since the 80ies and 90ies (sometimes even by multiple bands), but with internet you can check pretty fast if your idea is not already taken. Also, I would say that it became harder to come up with something new, but isn't that the point of creativity, to make some effort on your own?

If you don't know what I mean with a "bad" band-name, here are some subjective criteria out of my mind:

- bandnames that are just lifted from another band's song- or albumtitle, without being musically influenced by the band in question
- cryptic and hard to pronounce names in obscure languages like Latin, Greece, Icelandic etc.
- bandnames that are longer than 2-3 words

i generally agree (and i would like to change my band's name for this reason). i don't like the "tribute-names", taken from another band's song. but i cannot agree about the "cryptic and hard to pronounce names in OBSCURE laguages", why? only english is welcome? this sounds like a "good marketing strategy", that has nothing to do with the concept of a band. the concept could suggest to use a non english-name, it could fit better.

... latin and ancient greek names can be awesome and full of meanings, because the ancient languages are unbelievably richer than the modern ones. especially the ancient greek is incredible, it is a very subtle language, there are some words that mean one thing and the opposite too, that's very interesting imo.

Necros Christos is a good name and it sounds very good. as you said, there are obvious exception.
Absu is an awesome name. all the demonic names are not in english. Shub-Niggurath is a killer name imo.

also, several english names sound very strange and hard to pronounce by non english-speaking people. so, the argument can be inverted, as it is very "english-centric", it seems more "market oriented" than "concept oriented".

anyway, ADK, you have a pm about your band.

edit.: i also prefer short names, they are more "in your face". still i consider one of the BEST band's names ever ORDER FROM CHAOS._________________

Necros Christos is a good name and it sounds very good. as you said, there are obvious exception.
Absu is an awesome name. all the demonic names are not in english. Shub-Niggurath is a killer name imo.

None of those three are neither cryptic nor hard to pronounce IMHO. If you're a "metalhead", you should know some basics about mythology, history, fiction etc.

I was more thinking of names that you need a foreign dictionary or spelling book for it (but can't think of any example right now - because they are not remarkable enough).

cultofvomit wrote:

anyway, ADK, you have a pm about your band.

Don't see any PM here, you confuse me with someone else?

Last edited by ADK on Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:07 am; edited 1 time in total

Whilst generally I also prefer shorter titles, I would prefer a band to have a name which was meaningful and relevant to their purpose regardless of how concise it may not be.

Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Hebrew and other archaic languages are utterly beautiful and refer to ideas more specifically than modern words loaded with cultural or political connotations (take the word Holocaust for example, though in this case the connotations are probably the main crux of using that name).

If a word in another language is too cryptic or complex for such a person then quite simply it's their own fault._________________

Necros Christos is a good name and it sounds very good. as you said, there are obvious exception.
Absu is an awesome name. all the demonic names are not in english. Shub-Niggurath is a killer name imo.

None of those three are neither cryptic nor hard to pronounce IMHO. If you're a "metalhead", you should know some basics about mythology, history, fiction etc.

I was more thinking of names that you need a foreign dictionary or spelling book for it (but can't think of any example right now - because they are not remarkable enough).

I hate when non-French bands use French names (or lyrics) because usually, they can't pronounce it/them right.

or the use of German by non-German/Austrian neofolk and bm bands. Death in June and Burzum excluded.

Yes. Stick to your native language or English, I guess.

Are you kidding me?
And disqualify one ov the best things about metal?
writing in Latin is cool, singing in a language you don't speak is cooler and writing in a language you don't speak produces excellent results.
"if you are a false don't entry" is the best possible way to say this.
You're into extreme heavy metal yet Your concern is correct PRONUNCIATION ov French?
Unpronounceable names = GOOD.
every fucking name has been used now and it's become a contest ov recombining prefixes and suffixes from a list ov about 50 English words.
This isn't some televsion commercial candy store, this is obscure public-hating mysterious shit...the occult by definition should be illusiv.
I totally agree about the baseball-cap-type normal-looking guy metalcore sentence names, for example, if you call your band "job for a cowboy" it means to me that you're NOT REALLY metal... but that doesn't make long names bad.
I thought we wanted difficulty: strenuous musik vigourously played with non-user-friendly concepts and neologisms.

Also; bad grammar is totally metal, i see no need to stick to ones native language if something else fits the theme.

I think there's a difference between bands like Sarcofago or Tormentor, that simply didn't know better English lyrics due to their circumstances of time and place than to nowadays bands that want to appear special but butcher foreign or ancient languages while having access to all needed information at the same time.

As I said in the OP: Most shorter and simple good band names are already taken in 2012, but you also have way more possibilities for research as back then to come up with something creative AND correct.